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"Brown went on to complete a combat tour." Traditionally the reason for not allowing enemies to escape is that they will regroup and fight you again (accepting

"Brown went on to complete a combat tour." Traditionally the reason for not allowing enemies to escape is that they will regroup and fight you again (accepting surrender, or allowing parachutists to land & become POWs, is a different matter). In this case, the escaped crew was able to return to bomb German civilians.

scotty79 10y ago
No good deed goes unpunished. How unfashionable by today's standards of shooting a guy in rags from IR vision enabled, high calibre helicopter gun because he has old rifle and some ammo so might pose a problem to somebody at some point in the future.
- lostlogin 10y ago
  At least your scenario has a guy with a gun in his sights. "We don't do body counts" type attitudes seem to reign supreme.
- ybird 10y ago
  > No good deed goes unpunished. Good is good. Evil is evil. The only way for there to be more good is to do more good. If you do good and others do evil, you have still done good. If you do not do good and others do evil, there will be more evil than good. If you do good and others do not do evil, there will be only good done. As a German in WWII, Stigler was a modern Samaritan- spit on for their acts, Nazis acts were and are despicable- just like the Samaritans were to the Jews 2000 years ago.
- golergka 10y ago
  Pose a problem — as in killing your comrades in arms? Because many "old rifles" are quite capable of that, despite the age.
StavrosK 10y ago
Wouldn't war be so much better if you could rely on the spared enemy effectively "retiring"? That way you could safely spare people's lives, and it would be very sportsmanlike.
- elcapitan 10y ago
  I guess in today's kind of warfare you would have to send them a letter that they have been spared from a strike.
- zb 10y ago
  That used to be a thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parole#Prisoners_of_war https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parole#Prisoners_of_war
  - ced 10y ago
    "The United States does not authorize any Military Service member to sign or enter into any such parole agreement." Is there any reason for that?
13of40 10y ago
Case in point: https://warisboring.com/the-man-who-could-have-killed-hitler-8a6eb9858615#.7qgrvz8xq https://warisboring.com/the-man-who-could-have-killed-hitler...

scotty79 10y ago

No good deed goes unpunished. How unfashionable by today's standards of shooting a guy in rags from IR vision enabled, high calibre helicopter gun because he has old rifle and some ammo so might pose a problem to somebody at some point in the future.

lostlogin 10y ago
At least your scenario has a guy with a gun in his sights. "We don't do body counts" type attitudes seem to reign supreme.
ybird 10y ago
> No good deed goes unpunished. Good is good. Evil is evil. The only way for there to be more good is to do more good. If you do good and others do evil, you have still done good. If you do not do good and others do evil, there will be more evil than good. If you do good and others do not do evil, there will be only good done. As a German in WWII, Stigler was a modern Samaritan- spit on for their acts, Nazis acts were and are despicable- just like the Samaritans were to the Jews 2000 years ago.
golergka 10y ago
Pose a problem — as in killing your comrades in arms? Because many "old rifles" are quite capable of that, despite the age.

StavrosK 10y ago

Wouldn't war be so much better if you could rely on the spared enemy effectively "retiring"? That way you could safely spare people's lives, and it would be very sportsmanlike.

elcapitan 10y ago
I guess in today's kind of warfare you would have to send them a letter that they have been spared from a strike.
zb 10y ago
That used to be a thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parole#Prisoners_of_war https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parole#Prisoners_of_war
- ced 10y ago
  "The United States does not authorize any Military Service member to sign or enter into any such parole agreement." Is there any reason for that?

13of40 10y ago

Case in point: https://warisboring.com/the-man-who-could-have-killed-hitler-8a6eb9858615#.7qgrvz8xq https://warisboring.com/the-man-who-could-have-killed-hitler...